Fun at the one month celebration

Friday, October 6
One month old!
Lun Lun was more wary this time, but she did move into an adjacent den when called by a keeper. We closed the door between the two dens, and then our senior veterinarian removed the cub. The cub was quiet during the exam, which took less than 10 minutes. Lun Lun participated in a training session while her cub was examined and bedding was changed in the nest box. Then the cub was returned to the nest box and Lun Lun was given access to her. Lun Lun picked her cub up within a minute and nursed her about 15 minutes later.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

The cub's second exam yesterday reveals she is 15.3 inches long and weights 2.91 lbs. watch the video of the exam!

Thursday, October 5
Lun Lun and her cub continue to do well. Yang Yang, the cub’s father, is also doing well. His life has not changed much since the birth of the cub. Like most mammals, male giant pandas are not involved in caring for their offspring. A male giant panda spends a few days with a female during the spring breeding season, mates with her, and then moves on in search of other females to mate. The female cares for her cub alone.

Adult giant pandas are solitary and normally avoid each other outside of the breeding season. So, it is unlikely that a male would encounter a female with a cub. Having a male or even another female too close to the den can be stressful for a mother and she would most likely react aggressively. Zoo Atlanta’s giant panda building was designed so that the male could be kept away from the female when she had a cub. At night Yang Yang sleeps in a den on his own side of the building. He goes onto exhibit each day as usual and does not have to pass close to Lun Lun’s den for this.

Yang Yang is sometimes able to hear the cub vocalizing and can most likely smell her, but he has not seen her and probably will not see her until she is several months to one year old. We will not put him in the same enclosure with the cub. Yang Yang’s only reaction to the cub, so far, is that he snorted and honked when he heard her vocalizing shortly after she was born. Giant pandas use snorts as threats and honking is an indication of mild distress. Yang Yang has never heard a cub vocalize before and males are not normally around cubs, and so I expect the noise was startling to him. He seemed to get used to it quickly and has behaved normally since the first day or two after the cub was born.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Wednesday, October 4
The keepers have started to conduct regular training sessions with Lun Lun again. She has been trained using positive reinforcement to present different parts of her body (e.g., ears, eyes, open her mouth, shoulder, chest, etc.) on command. Since her appetite has returned, she has been willing to participate in training sessions and is performing very well all of the behaviors for which she was previously trained. The keepers use biscuits and fruit to reinforce or reward Lun Lun when she correctly responds to a command. Training sessions are conducted once or twice a day when Lun Lun leaves her cub to eat.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

October 3

Tuesday, October 3
Lun Lun and her cub continue to do well. Lun Lun’s appetite for bamboo has increased in the last couple of days. Her weight this morning was 103 kg (227 lbs). So, it is steadily increasing. Her cub now has a full coat of hair, which will become denser and more woolly over the next several weeks.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

	Lun Lun and cub resting, as seen today on panda cam

Monday, October 2
Lun Lun continues to take excellent care of her cub. We are able to weigh Lun Lun daily now. Her weight this morning was 102 kg (225 lbs). So, she has gained a little weight in the last couple of days.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Sunday, October 1
Lun Lun and her cub continue to do well. We have started to receive cards and donations from all over the country. All of us who work with giant pandas are deeply thankful to you for your interest in the pandas and your support. Zoo Atlanta sends $1.1 million per year to China for conservation of giant pandas. Most of this money is used to protect habitat for wild giant pandas. The remainder is used to care for and study captive giant pandas in China. Donations made to Zoo Atlanta’s giant pandas are used not only to care for Lun Lun, Yang Yang and their cub, but also to save wild giant pandas and the places they live. Together we can help ensure that giant pandas will survive for many generations to come.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Saturday, September 30
Lun Lun has started to eat more bamboo in recent days, which is good. She sometimes carries bamboo with her from the adjacent den into the nest box. There is a small risk that she could accidentally poke her cub with bamboo when she is feeding. Although I think the chance that this would result in any injury to the cub is very small, we have been removing the bamboo from the nest box opportunistically when Lun Lun leaves the cub, just to be safe.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Friday, September 29
This morning the keepers were able to weigh Lun Lun for the first time since a few weeks before she gave birth. There is a scale in one of the adjacent dens and this morning she was willing to go into that den and onto the scale to eat some biscuits placed there. Her weight this morning was 100 kg. Her weight usually ranges from 105-115 kg with 110 kg being average for her. As expected from her reduced appetite before giving birth and her fast after giving birth, she has lost weight. Given how little she has eaten in the last six weeks compared to her normal food intake, it’s amazing how little weight she lost. One hundred kg is a healthy weight for an adult female giant panda and we expect that she will regain the weight she’s lost over the next several weeks. We have increased the amount of food she is offered each day, so that she will have the extra energy needed to maintain lactation.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

	The cub in the hay, as seen today on panda cam

Thursday, September 28
In recent days, Lun Lun has been holding her cub less. Now she often puts the cub on the floor, tucked under her chin or between her forelegs. In our study of captive giant panda maternal behavior, which includes six mothers other than Lun Lun, we found that mothers spent at least 80% of their time holding their cubs in the fist three weeks. Studies of wild mothers have found they spend similar amounts of time holding their cubs in the first three weeks.

After three weeks of age, mothers begin to put their cubs down more and leave their cubs more frequently. Lun Lun’s cub was three weeks old yesterday and we are seeing the same trend in Lun Lun’s behavior. We also found that the amount of time mothers spend holding their cubs does not drop below 50% until the cub is six weeks old. It will be interesting to see if Lun Lun shows the same behavior when her cub is older.
Take a look at the new video!
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Wednesday, September 27
Lun Lun's cub seems to be getting bigger everyday. She's not nursing as frequently as she was. It's normal for the nursing bouts to become farther apart, because the mother gradually spends more time away from the cub foraging.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Tuesday, September 26
Lun Lun and her cub continue to do well. The cub is growing a fine coat of hair under its initial coat of lanugo (the sparse, woolly, white hair with which it was born). The cub should have a full coat of hair by the time it is four weeks old.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

	The cub's first exam determined today that it's a girl!

Monday, September 25
It's a GIRL!
Today, we separated Lun Lun from her cub to perform the cub’s first health check. The procedure went very smoothly. Lun Lun left the cub to eat in the adjacent den, the door was closed behind her, and then the veterinary staff removed the cub. Lun Lun ate biscuits and fruit calmly while the cub was away and the keepers cleaned her den and nest boxes. The cub did not vocalize during the health check, which is probably why Lun Lun remained calm. After 10 minutes, the cub was returned to the nest box and the door between the dens was opened. Lun Lun went straight to the cub, smelled it, investigated the den briefly and then picked the cub up. The cub nursed a few minutes later and then both mother and cub rested.

During the health check, the cub’s weight, body measurements, and temperature were recorded. The cub is in excellent health and developing normally. The cub’s gender was also identified. It’s a girl! Read full story

Although I did not have a strong preference for the cub’s gender, I am happy that it is a female, because I have fewer mother-reared females in my study of behavioral development. So, Lun Lun’s cub will be a welcome addition to the study. Most of all I am delighted that the cub is healthy and Lun Lun is taking wonderful care of it.
see video from the exam
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Sunday, September 24
Lun Lun and her cub continue to do well. Lun Lun is putting the cub on the floor occasionally now even when she is not leaving to eat or drink. Whenever Lun Lun put the cub on the floor in the first week after it was born it vocalized loudly. Now, it is usually quiet when she puts it down. It also usually remains quiet when she leaves it now. This is normal and means the cub is able to tolerate being left for longer periods of time.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Saturday, September 23
Lun Lun’s appetite has increased significantly. She is leaving her cub three to four times a day to eat and drink. She is mostly eating leafeater biscuits and fruit with a little bamboo. The biscuits contain more calories than the bamboo. So, they should help her regain some weight and provide her with energy for lactation. Her cub appears to be thriving.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Friday, September 22
The cub appears to be in excellent health. It is gaining weight, its color is good, vocalizations are normal and it’s nursing regularly. Lun Lun also seems to be in good health. She has lost some weight, but she is eating more each day and behaving normally. We still plan to try to separate her from the cub briefly for a health check in the next week. She remains very protective of her cub. So, we need to be patient about trying to separate her. We don’t want to cause her or the cub any unnecessary stress.

We have highly experienced animal care staff monitoring Lun Lun and her cub 24 hours per day, so that we can continue to respond immediately to any concerns.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Our cub letting out a big yawn! See the video (Lun Lun Holding Cub)

Wednesday, September 20
2 Weeks old!
Lun Lun has started to eat significantly more in the last day. Later today, we will begin giving her access to an adjacent den and putting food in that den as well as in the den she is currently using. After she becomes used to going into the adjacent den, we plan to close her into the adjacent den for a few minutes so that we can perform a quick health check on the cub and clean out the den she has been using since the birth. That will probably happen sometime in the next week.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

	Lun Lun holding cub, as seen today on panda cam

Tuesday, September 19
Last night, Lun Lun ate bamboo for the first time since giving birth on September 6. She left her cub for nine minutes to eat bamboo, some banana and two leafeater biscuits. She left the cub again a few hours later to eat more bamboo. We expect that she will continue to leave the cub more frequently and for longer periods of time.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Monday, September 18
Lun Lun left her cub for a few minutes yesterday evening to eat a banana and two leafeater biscuits. She left the cub briefly twice this morning, but did not eat or drink. The cub usually remains quiet or vocalizes softly while Lun Lun is away.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Sunday, September 17
Lun Lun continues to take excellent care of her cub. Nursing bouts are gradually becoming farther apart. They usually occur every two to three hours now. This is normal and we expect the time between nursing bouts to continue to lengthen. Wild females gradually leave their cubs for longer and longer periods of time to forage, and so nursing bouts become farther apart. Similarly, Lun Lun will gradually spend more and more time away from her cub as it gets older.

Lun Lun is also keeping her cub very clean. She usually licks the cub during nursing bouts. Young giant pandas, like other newborn carnivores including puppies and kittens, cannot defecate and urinate without stimulation from the mother. Giant panda mothers stimulate their cubs to void waste by licking and ingest any waste the cubs produce. That’s dedication!
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

The cub is starting to show it's colors!

Saturday, September 16
We have been able to see Lun Lun’s cub more often today. She is leaving it uncovered more and occasionally leaves it on the floor for a minute or two when she rolls over. The cub has grown noticeably and is nice and plump. The black markings have become more visible on the eyes, ears and shoulders and have started to appear on the hind legs as well. Lun Lun has been leaving the cub briefly to drink each day, but still has not eaten more than a couple of pieces of sugarcane since giving birth.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Friday, September 15
Lun Lun left her cub for a few minutes today to eat a piece of sugarcane. She also sniffed and handled some bamboo, but did not eat any. Her cub vocalized while she was investigating the bamboo, which caused her to return to the cub immediately instead of continuing to eat. Over the next several days, we expect that she will gradually begin to leave the cub for longer periods of time to eat and drink.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

	Lun Lun licking cub

Thursday, September 14
Lun Lun and her cub continue to do well. The cub is nursing approximately every two hours. It’s growing and starting to develop black markings over its shoulders. Lun Lun left the cub for a few minutes again last night for a drink of water. She did not eat any food.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Wednesday, September 13
Lun Lun carried her cub to the adjacent next box last night. While she rested there, a nursery keeper was able to reach through the bars and add more bedding to the nest box Lun Lun had been using almost exclusively since giving birth. Lun Lun is protective of her cub and seems wary when anyone approaches the den too closely. We are leaving her alone as much as possible and have limited access to the giant panda building to a handful of necessary staff. We continue to monitor Lun Lun and her cub for 24 hours per day to ensure all goes well.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Panda cub nursing

Tuesday, September 12
Early this morning, Lun Lun ate her first bit of food since before giving birth on Sept. 6. She put the cub on the floor to eat a small piece of sugarcane. She also left the cub for about three minutes last night to have her second drink of water since giving birth. We expect that she will gradually begin to leave the cub more often and for longer periods of time over the next several days.

The cub is doing well. It’s nursing regularly and appears strong. The skin around it’s eyes is beginning to darken. This is the first step in the development of the characteristic black and white coloration. Over the next week or two the skin will darken over the eyes, ears, shoulders and legs. Then the coat will begin to grow in.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

	The cub is placed down while Lun Lun left to get a drink of water

Monday, September 11
Last night Lun Lun left her cub for the first time to get a drink of water. This is the first drink she has had since Wednesday before she gave birth. She placed the cub on the floor and left it for about three minutes. She refused food after drinking, returned to the cub and picked it up. Giant panda mothers normally go without drinking or eating for at least a few days after giving birth. One wild female did not drink or eat for 25 days after giving birth!
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Sunday, September 10
Lun Lun continues to be a great mother. She keeps the cub covered most of the time, but we are able to see occasionally. It looks healthy and strong. Newborn giant pandas have very little fur and cannot regulate their own body temperature. Thus, it’s very important that the mother hold the cub constantly to keep it warm.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Saturday, September 9
I am extremely proud of Lun Lun. She is a wonderful mother! The cub is doing very well. It appears to be nursing regularly and looks and sounds strong. Newborn giant panda cubs are highly vocal. The cub uses vocalizations to let the mother know if it’s hungry or uncomfortable. The cub is tiny, but it can make amazingly loud sounds. Lun Lun is responding appropriately to these sounds by repositioning the cub, licking it and keeping it covered and warm.
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Friday, September 8
Mother and the cub continue to do well.  Lun Lun is exhibiting great maternal instincts. Over the last 24 hours, she and the cub have settled into routine and appear more relaxed. Nursery staff actually observed the cub nursing several times overnight, with nursing bouts occurring every 1 to 1 ½ hours. 

We had a minor scare yesterday afternoon when our visiting Chinese colleague was concerned that the cub sounded hoarse. We have been listening intently, but all indications are that the cub continues to be quite vigorous.

The cub has noticeably more hair than the day before. If all continues to go well, we should see the characteristic black markings begin to appear by early next week.  Dr. Rebecca Snyder our curator of giant panda research and management has been busy watching and caring for Lun Lun and the cub, and will start doing updates again over the weekend.
Dr. Dwight Lawson
Vice President Animal Programs and Science

	September 6, Lun Lun and cub

Thursday, September 7
Lun Lun has been doing a great job caring for her cub.  There have been sounds coming from the birthing den that indicate the cub is nursing.  This is a good sign.  Animal management staff is on stand-by to assure that the mother and cub’s progress continue. 
Dr. Maria Crane
Vice President of Animal Health

Wednesday, September 6
Our wait is over!
Lun Lun gave birth on September 6 at 4:51 P.M.  Both the cub and mother seem to be doing fine. We have very little to share at this moment, but will keep posting updates daily about Lun Lun's and the cub's progress.
read the full news story
Dr. Rebecca Snyder
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

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